Plant-based egg pioneer Eat Just’s ingredient mung bean protein has received Novel Food approval from the European Commission.
The Commission’s finding follows an earlier determination by the European Food Safety Authority that mung bean protein is safe under novel food requirements. It is the first novel legume protein to earn such approval. Mung bean protein is the first novel legume protein to be deemed safe under the novel food procedure. The approval was obtained with data protection which ensures that Eat Just’s use of mung bean protein for plant-based egg products cannot be used by other food companies seeking to introduce similar products for five years unless those companies obtain authorization through the same novel food application process.
The source of the protein, dry mung beans (Vigna radiata), has a long history of food use, especially in Asia but also in Europe. Mung Bean Protein contains at least 85 % protein, which was shown to mainly consist of the major seed storage protein of mung bean, vicilin-like 8S-globulin. One of the advantages is that the final product does not contain cholesterol. It can be used as a vegan egg substitute.
The San Francisco-based firm, plant-based egg brand, “Just Egg”, is expected to be on European shelves later this year.
EFSA Summary application: https://bit.ly/3JyCNPe
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